Electric fans and Ferozas

[Le0n]

Hi David,

I fitted a Vitara fan behind the radiator and also a 10" fan in front between the Radiator and aircon condenser, both second hand. the reason for the 10' fan was the vitara shroud only covered about 2/3's of the radiator and the second fan got most of the rest. 1 pushing and 1 pulling. This worked really well and I would have been happy to try to reach Darwin in Roza with this setup.

The Surf got a bit hot and the temp gauge started climbing off the thermostat going into Cloncurry. Mind you I was sitting on 110 Kph in plus 45c pulling a fully loaded trailer. Slowing down to just on 90k's dropped the gauge back to a better llevel. Couldn't turn off the aircon could I

[murcod]

Thanks for the tips. I'll suss out if the Davies Craig fan I've got will fit in between the condensor and radiator- I didn't even bother looking as I figured there'd be no hope with the air con fittings in front.

The Daewoo fan shroud is a perfect fit top to bottom and covers at least 3/4 of the radiator. I was thinking about cutting up my old Daihatsu shroud and lengthening the Daewoo one to cover the entire back of the radiator. (Can be done with a hacksaw and a fibreglassing kit hopefully!)

[Le0n]

David, I remember I was able to pack the radiator back about 12 mm to get extra clearance. Never had an extended run to test the current draw with 3 fans running. Could have drawn more than the alternater could deliver at night on high beam with the driving lights being used as well.

[murcod]

An update on the electric thermo fan. As I've already said the Davies Craig fan didn't have the guts to cool the engine in the hot weather- the new fan is now fitted and looks very promising.

It's off a Daewoo Cielo/ Nubira and is almost a perfect fit for height. I cut all the standard mounts off, routered the edges a bit to make it a snug fit and had a custom steel mount made up to mount it on the radiator.

Testing last night showed it's better than the old fan, cooling the engine a lot quicker.

[SimplyPV]

very nice fan... you know, its funny that you guys say you have a hard time with your trucks heating up... mine gets hot quick... and stays hot! man that heater gets so hot i have to turn it off and crack the windows for a few mins, then it gets cold so i have to close the windows and blast the heat one way you guys can get it to heat up quickly is to run it in high rpm for a few mins while driving. 3rd is a great gear for this. i can go to 65-68 mph before hitting red line and she shows no sign of struglling. man that engine screams. my temp gages always climbs to half, and stays there, never moves in either direction no matter how hard i drive it, or how hot it is... only time i saw it a bit higher than where it has always been was when i was cruisin at 90 mph in 105 degree F... i jus simply blasted the heat (had top off with windows rolled down) and it brought it back down to where it always sits. so i find it strange that you guys are having problems getting heat out of ur rigs. when i first bought roza... the heater was very weak, then it refused to work at all. all i got was cold air. so i had the heater flushed and that fixed the problem right quick. jus a thought fellas.

[-Mick-]

my temp gages always climbs to half, and stays there, never moves in either direction no matter how hard i drive it, or how hot it is...

Same with mine 3 hours of 2nd gear low range tit revvin soft sand work on a 35 degree day and it didn't even budge from half. My mates had to open their bonnets when we got back to camp, one with a diesel lux chucked 2 bags of ice on his block

I just cracked a coldie and grabbed a fishin rod

All i do is disconnect the hoses and flush the radiator whenever I remember

[murcod]

It's amazing what a good job the standard viscous hub fan does. I actually thought mine was shagged as the fan had the same resistance no matter if the engine was hot or cold.

You do get a noticeable power gain from removing the old fan, and the engine free revs so much quicker.

[robbie]

there was a big thread about viscous hub vs electric..

I was going to do the same thing as you.. but I ended up cracking up the viscous hub, getting the toyota magic fluid (its the silicone in the middle of the hub), and putting it back on the rig..

you can feel air from the front of the car now, very strong compared to before.

[ShinyDiscoBalls]

Same with mine 3 hours of 2nd gear low range tit revvin soft sand work on a 35 degree day and it didn't even budge from half. My mates had to open their bonnets when we got back to camp, one with a diesel lux chucked 2 bags of ice on his block

I just cracked a coldie and grabbed a fishin rod

All i do is disconnect the hoses and flush the radiator whenever I remember

Well mine seems to be the same. Drove to the snow in August, turn on the car in the morning... let it run for 5 minutes and temp just below half.

Have driven it through Hill End doing a lot of low range wok with an outside temp of about 38 - 40... just below half way.

Did a full day in Stockton with temps in the mid 30's and again... just below halfway.

In fact never seen the needle anywhere above halfway. Knock on wood that I will never have an overheating problem.

[ShinyDiscoBalls]

Well it always happens that way doesn't it... here I was bragging about how Ferocious never overheats....

Just did a dash to buy a map for tomorrows trip. Its about 34+ outside so had the aircon going and after 1 hours driving temp guage fluctuating between 1/2 & 3/4.... first time I've ever seen it over !/2...

Switched the aircon off and back to 1/2 and less fluctuction on the guage... might just run my water via a hose around the bottom of the car before going back to the radiator... that should cool it down.

[murcod]

Bummer about the overheating- I know what you're going through!

The aircon really makes a huge difference and causes the engine temp to rocket. I had mine up some really steep hills yesterday and today, aircon on and no sign of overheating - the new fan's a winner so far. The outside temp was in the low 30's, so it was a good test.

Be careful of detonation if you're overheating too- I found mine was pinging it's head off once the guage got much over halfway.

[ShinyDiscoBalls]

Gonna look into a set up like yours I think.... can you email those photos of your fan set up???? as usual I can't see them....

[murcod]

I'll send them off to you a bit later. Have you got a welder to make up the mounting bracket?

[Rb25sil80]

Why can't I see any of the images that are apparently posted at the top of ths thread?

Do I need to enable something on my browser? Same in other threads, no pics displayed.

[murcod]

The servers were updated a while back and all the pics were lost forever on old threads.

[Rb25sil80]

Ahhh I see, could you email me pics of your thermo setup Murcod?

a1pirate@gmail.com

Are you running the engine fan with a thermo in between the radiator and the aircon condenser? I too would be surprised if there was a gap, I hadn't checked.

I was thinking of replacing the air con fan with a thermo fan running off a temp switch so it comes on as a Thermo as well as an AC fan. I saw somewhere the stock AC fan was not suited to this task.

Cheers
Brad

[murcod]

Will try to dig some up and send them later.

I've got the A/C thermo wired to come on at the same time as the new one I've fitted behind the radiator. I simply tapped into the relay coil for it (located behind the front passenger side headlight.)

It does make a difference and keeps the engine cooler. There's no reason AFAIK why you shouldn't run the A/C one like that, they're all electric fans!? If it ever burns out I'll just replace it with a proper thermo.

On mine there's stuff all space between the condensor and radiator (~1cm)

[murcod]

OK, the pics.....

I have since extended the shroud on the fan to cover the entire radiator using fibreglass. It ain't pretty, but it is functional!

BTW the thermal switch in the pic is off an Applause. It failed and went high resistance (too high for the relay to switch); I then discovered Tridon make replacement switches for various vehicles. Ended up with an 85 degree one, part number TFS-139, which is the same thread/ electrical spade connector and was available off the shelf from an auto parts place for $35.

[Rb25sil80]

Nice one thanks for the pics!

Are you just using a relay to switch it on? I was going to get one of those Thermo kits with the little probe, i've never been able to get the damn things to seal for any extended period of time so might do what you've done I think.

Did you look at fitting a 15 inch fan or do you think that would be over kill?

I've got a dumarse question for ya, does the engine clutch fan pull or push the air? I assume it pulls it into the engine bay but saw that somebody had put some new fluid in their fan and now they could feel the air rushing from in front of the car?

If it does indeed pull, I assume your thermo setup is the same?

Cheers
Brad

[murcod]

Are you just using a relay to switch it on? I was going to get one of those Thermo kits with the little probe, i've never been able to get the damn things to seal for any extended period of time so might do what you've done I think.

Yes, using a relay. Use heavy duty cable and a 20 Amp fuse- I was dropping ~0.5V across the cable which made a huge difference to the fan speed. I've heard nothing but bad news about those probe style switches- get a thermo switch and get someone to braze a nut onto the metal coolant pipe like I did.

Did you look at fitting a 15 inch fan or do you think that would be over kill?

The limiting factor is the height if the radiator core plus the distance from the radiator to the engine pulleys. It's very hard to find a big thermo that is thin enough. Mine is off a Daewoo Cielo/ Nubira and I'd recommend getting something similar with a shroud fitted- the shroud helps compensate for the fan being smaller.

I've got a dumarse question for ya, does the engine clutch fan pull or push the air? I assume it pulls it into the engine bay but saw that somebody had put some new fluid in their fan and now they could feel the air rushing from in front of the car?

It pulls air through. I think Robbie was saying it was pulling so much air through that he could feel it in front of the radiator?

If it does indeed pull, I assume your thermo setup is the same?

Yes. If fitted behind they should suck the air through; if in front they should push it through instead.

(BTW I tidied up the thread and got rid of the irrelevant chat in the middle)

[BajanFeroza]

A question on a similar topic, my bottom radiator hose has a more than 90 degree kink in it and the hose clamp is hitting the fan. BUT ... I cant fit my hand in there to change or remove any parts. Do I have to remove anything to work in these areas.

[murcod]

Now this is from memory as I haven't got the standard set up.... The shroud is split into two halves to help with it's removal, so remove that first. Then you should be able to undo the bolts that hold the fan on. That should give you enough access space.

Also try removing the front bash plate and the metal bracket that goes under the radiator- you might be able to attack it from underneath. Removing the battery may also help give better access from above.

[BajanFeroza]

Will try that. Funny my headlights just went out on me, something in the switch. I fiured that out but cant solve it, so maybe the mechanic can do a fix 2 problems for one deal....

[rowdy24]

Nice setup David.

I didn't know the Feroza had the temperature sensor near the radiator. Mine is near the distributor.

Btw, does anyone have problems with excessive cooling when outside temp is below about 18 deg c, and engine is doing above 3000rpm? (my temp can drop to a needle width above the cold marker when on freeway on a cold morning. Other than that its almost always stuck at half way.

[murcod]

Hi Brett, the extra sensor (actually it's a normally open switch) was brazed into the metal coolant pipe.

I know what you mean about the temperature fluctuations... I tried changing my thermostat before fitting the electric thermo, but it made no difference. It's also a lot worse without the engine driven fan fitted!

My theory is it's most likely got something to do with the front wheel drive design of the HD-E engine and adapting it to the Feroza's RWD setup? The thermostat is also in an unusal place compared to other cars I've owned.